Richard records a personal best

RICHARD Peters finished sixth in the final of the 1500m at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in Des Moines, Illinois.

The 22-year-old Bristol & West AC runner, who is a student at Boston University, recorded a time of 3mins 44.66secs after clocking a PB of 3:42.69 in the heats.

Peters will return to his Yate home this week and prepare for the UK Championships and Olympic trials in Birmingham on June 22-24.

"We are trying to find a fast race for Rich this weekend before they select the team for the European Championships next Monday," said coach Mike Down. "He needs to get under 3mins 41secs to even be considered and I'm sure he can do that if he gets into the right race."

Yate & District AC's 13-year-old Ellie Leather smashed her personal bests in both the under-15 girls' 800m and 1,500m last week.

In the latter, she carved seven seconds off her PB with 5mins 03secs in the Bristol & West Open meeting, while in the 800m at the Avon League she clocked a winning time of 2:28 – six seconds better than her previous best.

The next Towpath 10k multi-terrain race will be held on Friday, with entries taken on the night at Greville Smyth Park, Ashton. For further details see the website at: www.greatwesternrunners.co.uk.

Emily Wright's good start to the season continued at the Welsh Championships when she clocked a PB of 12.27secs to finish second in the 100m, although the wind was just a fraction over the legal limit at 2.1mps.

The following day, the 13-year-old Yate & District AC athlete returned to compete in the long jump and, after fouling her first two efforts, clinched victory on her third and final attempt with a magnificent PB and Welsh Championships record of 5.43m.

Representing Bristol & West in the Avon League on Sunday, newcomer Kurt Cameron improved from 2.24m to 2.51m to win the under-13 boys' pole vault and jump to top spot in the UK Rankings.

In addition, Cameron cleared a PB of 1.41m in the under-13s high jump and also threw a PB in the javelin to complete a fantastic day at the Yate track. "Kurt was flying and set four PBs in the pole vault competition," said coach Martin Davies.

Entries will be taken at Mary Elton School before the start of the Clevedon Midsummer 10k road race tonight (7.30pm). For details, go to www.clevedonac.co.uk.

Competing in the Bedford International Games, Amy Woodman was third in the long jump with 6.17m, equalling her season's best.

Bristol & West's Omar Simpson clocked 47.77secs in the 400m, while Leon Reid ran 10.65secs into a headwind of 0.1m/s and 21.53secs in the 200m (-1.4m/s)

Clevedon-born James Thie found himself in the 1500m B race at the British Milers' Grand Prix at Watford. "It is the first time since 1999 that I have been relegated to the B race. I must be getting old!" he said.